Daughter of the Groom
by bingblot
Summary: Another one-shot mid-ep filler for 7x6, "Time of Our Lives"- Alexis's POV before and during the Wedding.


_Disclaimer: Not mine. I'm just obsessed. _

_Author's Note: I don't think I'll ever get tired of writing about the Wedding. Yet another mid-ep filler for 7x6, "Time of Our Lives," before the wedding from Alexis's POV. A companion fic of sorts to my "Father of the Bride" but it's not at all necessary to read both. My first attempt at writing Alexis and I'm not sure how successful I was… _

**Daughter of the Groom**

"Dad?" Alexis knocked on the door of the master bedroom of the Hamptons house.

"Come in, Alexis."

She opened the door to see her dad standing in front of his dresser in his suit pants and shirt, his jacket laid out on the bed, as he fastened his cufflinks. He turned his head to smile at her. "What's up, sweetie?" he asked a second before his expression abruptly changed, his smile softening. "You look beautiful."

She held up the flower she held in her hand. "I saved a flower from Kate's bouquet for you to wear in your jacket. Not quite a full boutonniere but I figure it'll do."

"Thanks."

She lay the flower carefully down on the dresser and stepped forward to help him with the second of his cufflinks. And grinned a little as she saw that they were what he referred to as his "lucky" cufflinks, the _Star Wars_ cufflinks she'd gotten him for Father's Day a couple years ago that said "May the Force Be With You" on them. Only her dad…

That done, she stepped back as he shrugged into his jacket and then moved in again to carefully pin the flower on his jacket lapel, brushing her hands along his shoulders afterwards. "No tie?"

He shrugged a little. "I don't think so. This is supposed to be fairly low-key."

And of course Alexis knew that her dad didn't really like to wear ties unless the occasion absolutely required it so she let it pass and smiled at him instead. "You look good, Dad."

He did, if by "good," one meant that her dad looked like he was trying to test whether it was actually possible for someone to burst from too much pent up happiness and excitement. He had that look on his face that usually meant that he wanted to be bouncing off the walls like an 8-year-old on a sugar rush but was holding it in. He was hiding it pretty well—on his best behavior today, as he usually was when Kate's dad was around—but Alexis knew his tells, could tell that he was flexing his knee, could see the tiny twitches and other barely perceptible movements of his fingers, that all spoke of a lot of excitement and happiness. He was so happy that Alexis, rather ridiculously, felt her throat tighten up with emotion.

_Get a grip, Alexis_, she told herself. Dad being so happy was a silly reason to cry.

He grinned. "Thank you, daughter of mine." And then in one of his lightning-fast changes of mood, he abruptly sobered, putting his hands on her shoulders and bending slightly so he could look her straight in the eyes. "Alexis, sweetie, you're really okay with all this, right? With me marrying Kate?"

"I'm happy for you, Dad, really I am. And I like Kate a lot." Alexis paused and then added, more quietly, "I know Kate's the One for you, Dad."

And knew she'd said the right thing when she saw the way her dad's eyes and smile lit up his entire face. "She is, Alexis," he said quietly. "She really is."

"I love you, Daddy," she said, the childish name for him slipping out before she'd even realized it.

Her dad pulled her into his arms, pressing a kiss to her hair. "I love you too, pumpkin." He drew back to meet her eyes. "I'll always love you, you know that, right? Even when Kate and I have kids—"

"When?" she interrupted him, raising her eyebrows. "Is there something you're not telling me, Dad, or are you getting ahead of yourself?"

He blinked, suddenly looking a little flustered and rather sheepish, like a little boy who'd gotten caught with his hand in the cookie jar. "Getting ahead of myself," he answered with a small laugh. "I mean, Kate and I have talked about it a little but it'll be in the future, not now. I would tell you—and your grandmother—if it was really happening, I mean, if I knew anything, that is."

She laughed at his sudden tripping over his own words. "It's okay, Dad, I know what you mean. And I'm not worried about that, Dad. I had you all to myself for the first 20 years of my life. I think I'm old enough now to share."

"You are. You're definitely old enough. I don't know when you grew up so fast," he added, repeating his frequent refrain bemoaning how grown up she was.

She laughed. "You should pay more attention, Dad. I grew up right in front of you, after all."

"I know but it was like at warp speed," he protested.

Alexis laughed again. "Silly, Dad."

He only grinned at her and kissed her forehead. "I'm really glad you're here, sweetie."

"Where else would I be? I'm pretty sure going to your parents' wedding is one of those mandatory attendance things. After all," she added, "I was at your wedding to Gina too."

"Well, technically, you've been at all my weddings," he countered. "You were the bump in your mom's stomach at my first wedding."

She made a face at him. "Dad, that doesn't count."

"It counts for me. As far as I'm concerned, you were the most important person at my first wedding." He gave her one of his half-teasing, half-tender little smiles. "You've been the most important person for me since before you were even born."

_Oh, Dad…_ Only her dad could say things like that and make the rather trite words sound entirely sincere and even new. "Okay, fine, I was at your first two weddings—and now I'll be at your last wedding," she added more quietly and seriously.

He stilled, looking at her. "My last wedding," he repeated a little oddly.

"This will be your last wedding, won't it, Dad?" She knew it would be. It was partly what had made her so… nervous… about her dad really becoming romantically involved with Detective Beckett—with _Kate_—at first, because she knew, probably better than anyone, how much her dad loved Kate and also knew the flip-side of that, how much Kate could hurt her dad. She'd seen what happened to Dad when Kate disappeared and didn't contact him for months after she'd been shot, had seen how depressed her dad had been the year after that when he'd suddenly flown out to Vegas that weekend and then taken up with that other detective for a couple days. (Dad had tried to hide it from her but she knew him too well for it to work.) She'd seen the bleak sadness in his eyes for her high school graduation and knew that it wasn't because of her going off to college. She still didn't know exactly what Kate had done to cause that but she knew it had been because of Kate and she hadn't been able to help resenting Kate for it. No one could hurt her dad as deeply as Kate could, Alexis knew, except for her own self. So, as much as she'd liked Kate personally (and Alexis had always liked Kate, had liked that Kate was obviously smart and sensible and confident and she'd somehow brought out the best in her dad, made him a little more grown up), she'd been nervous about her dad and Kate being together because she couldn't quite believe that after all that time, after hurting him so badly, Kate could really love her dad the way he deserved.

It was terrible but somehow, seeing Kate when Dad had disappeared over the summer, those horrible two months that Alexis still had nightmares about, had finally shown Alexis that whatever else, Kate really did love Dad.

So yes, she knew that this would be Dad's last wedding. Kate was the One.

He grinned and suddenly looked so happy she couldn't help but think it was a little surprising he didn't actually start to float. "Yeah, this will definitely be my last wedding."

Alexis smiled. "I'm happy for you and Kate, Dad. Really, really happy." She glanced at the clock. "You'd better get downstairs. The Justice of the Peace should be here any minute now."

"Right. Right," he repeated himself, suddenly looking as if he'd forgotten what to do with himself. The 8-year-old on a sugar rush was back.

"Do you have the ring?"

He looked panicked for a fleeting second and then he stuck his hand in his pocket and smiled. "Yeah, I have it."

Thank goodness for that. She didn't even want to think about how much her dad was likely to flip out if he couldn't find the ring, given how jittery he already was. She put her hands on his shoulders, gently pushing him out the door. "Go outside to wait, Dad. I'm going to go see Gram and check on Kate. I'll see you outside."

He went.

Alexis smiled to herself. She'd never seen her dad looking quite so happy and for that alone, she thought, she would love Kate.

Alexis headed over to the other side of the house, to one of the guest rooms that had been temporarily given over to Kate to get ready so that her dad wouldn't see her before the ceremony actually began. And heard Gram's voice floating down the hallway as she drew near. "Oh, Katherine darling, you look just perfect."

"Do you think so?" Alexis could hear the small smile in Kate's voice along with the faint note of uncertainty. "I know it's not a dress…"

"It's lovely. _You're_ lovely," Martha said reassuringly as Alexis knocked quickly and pushed open the door that had already been ajar.

Gram whirled around and Kate looked up with a smile. "Come in, Alexis."

Gram greeted Alexis by putting an arm around her shoulders. "Oh, good, Alexis darling, tell Katherine that she looks perfect."

Alexis smiled at Kate. "You do, Kate," she said sincerely. "You look really beautiful." And the detective really, really did. She wasn't wearing a dress but a relatively simple pantsuit but Kate was tall enough and slender enough to do full justice to the long, elegant lines of the pants and the top was a really pretty open-laced blouse.

"Turn around, Katherine. Show Alexis the back," Gram encouraged and Kate spun obligingly, allowing Alexis to see that the top was short in the back, left a gap at Kate's lower back, just above a long ribbon tied in a bow that added an extra touch of elegance to the pantsuit. It was a lovely outfit for all its simplicity, perfectly suited to the sort of intimate, low-key ceremony that it was going to be. But for all that, Alexis couldn't help but think that what really made Kate so beautiful at this moment—more beautiful than Alexis had ever seen her, really, which was saying something since the detective was always one of the prettiest women Alexis had ever seen—was how happy she was. Her eyes were bright, her smile glowing.

"I think Dad might swallow his own tongue when he sees you, Kate," Alexis commented.

Kate laughed a little. "Thanks, Alexis."

"Now, is there anything else you need, Katherine?"

Kate looked down at herself and then in the mirror and took a deep breath. "No, Martha, I think I'm ready."

Gram enveloped Kate in a careful hug trying not to muss Kate's clothes or her hair or anything and Alexis heard her grandmother murmur, "Thank you for making my son so happy."

Kate returned Gram's hug. "Thank _you_, Martha, for everything."

And then it was Alexis's turn and she stepped forward to hug Kate.

"I'm really happy for you and my dad, Kate," she said.

Kate smiled softly. "Thank you, Alexis." She hesitated and then added, quietly, "You know I love you too, right, Alexis?"

Alexis managed a smile although she felt the sudden prick of tears in her eyes. Kate had never said that before. She knew she and Kate had gotten closer, especially in those awful months when Dad had been gone, but Kate hadn't said those words before. And she wasn't quite sure why it meant so much to hear them now but somehow, it did. Kate would be part of her _family_, just as much as Dad and Gram were. Already _was_ a part of her family, more than Gina had ever been, really. Her family. The people she could rely on and trust. Alexis had always thought, for years while growing up, that her dad was her only real family. Her mom didn't count, wasn't really around enough, and Alexis had finally learned to accept that it was just the way her mom was. And then Gram had moved in and somehow, her family had grown to include Gram too, with all her drama and her sense of fun and way of living life to the fullest.

And now, there would be Kate. Kate, who made Dad happy, who had made Dad grow up more. (Alexis had always adored her dad and she knew, or could guess at, how much Dad had tried to protect her—there was a reason Dad never brought dates home with him so Alexis had never met any of Dad's women over the years. But not having met any of the women didn't mean not knowing they existed and she'd heard enough of the stories and had seen enough and she was so glad that her dad had outgrown that phase of doing stupid things that got him arrested, had stopped seeing random women. She'd worried about her dad when he'd been doing all that stupid, reckless stuff, worried more than Alexis had ever admitted to anybody. But then he'd met Kate and somehow, he'd grown up.) Kate, who loved Dad and Gram and Alexis too.

Kate would be family. And so would Kate's own dad. Alexis didn't know Mr. Beckett very well yet but she liked him, liked talking to him, liked the way he talked to her just like another adult all the time. "I'm glad you're joining our family, Kate," she managed to say after a moment and then added, on something of an impulse, "And I think I'll like having your dad as a grandfather."

Kate's smile deepened. "He'll like having you as a granddaughter."

"Alexis darling, if we keep your father waiting much longer, I have a feeling he might actually burst from excitement."

Alexis and Kate both laughed and Alexis hugged Kate again, quickly.

"We'll send your father up so he can escort you outside, Katherine," Gram said just before she and Alexis left the room.

Kate nodded.

Alexis joined her grandmother in going outside. And yeah, Dad still had that look like he might actually float off into the air, he looked so happy and excited. Alexis had seen her dad excited a lot—he was still a big kid and he got excited over things. It was something Alexis had learned to appreciate more and more as she realized how rare it was for someone to still retain so much unfettered ability to enjoy little things, believe in things like magic. But this sort of excitement, this sort of happiness—this was different. This was deeper. He was happy and excited but he was also… oddly solemn too. Alexis could see it in her dad's eyes. He had that I'm-happy-but-I'm-about-to-cry look that Alexis recognized from her high school graduation, only without the underlying bleak sadness that had made Alexis worry about him.

"She's ready," Gram told Mr. Beckett, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Mr. Beckett smiled and then he bent and kissed Alexis on the cheek and Alexis smiled. Yeah, she was going to like having him as a grandfather.

"Then I guess we're all set," Mr. Beckett said.

Alexis slipped closer to her dad, wanting to be closer to him, a sudden stark memory of waiting for her dad on another day for another wedding at this house flashing into her mind. She shoved the thought away— Dad was fine, he was back, he was _right here_—and felt better, as always, as Dad slid an arm around her shoulders and pressed a kiss to her hair. "Come on, Dad, we'd better get into our places," she managed to say, trying to sound normal.

"You okay, pumpkin?" he murmured into her ear and Alexis knew that he'd somehow sensed her tension, felt it or heard it in her voice, in that way he so often had with her. She'd told him that once years ago when she'd been little, asked how he could so often guess when she was sad or worried about anything, and he had winked at her and called it one of his "spidey-senses." Alexis had giggled and called him "Spider-Daddy" for the next two days.

"I just love you, Daddy," Alexis answered quietly.

Dad's arm tightened around her and he kissed her forehead. "Love you too, sweetie."

He let her go so he could exchange a few words with the Justice of the Peace while Alexis met her grandmother's eyes and they both walked up the few steps to the open pavilion, taking their places.

The Justice of the Peace followed along with Dad and Alexis had to smile, felt her lingering melancholy disappear, at the sight of her dad's face. And she suddenly realized that she didn't think she'd ever seen her dad look quite like this, quite so… confident, so certain that this was the right thing. So certain that Kate was the One for him.

She thought about her mom—dear, silly, flaky Mom, Alexis thought with the little internal sigh that the thought of her mom usually provoked—thought about Gina, who'd been nice enough but had never really seemed to like Dad the way he was, had always seemed to want to change him somehow. She thought about the look she often saw on Dad's face when her mom was around—the half-exasperated, a little bit amused look (much better than the way Dad's expression had stiffened up whenever he'd seen Mom in the years immediately after their divorce)—thought about the way Dad had looked at Gina, the mixture of tolerance and annoyance mixed in with some affection when he wasn't angry at Gina, that was.

And she thought about the way her dad looked at Kate—had looked at Kate for so many years. Dad looked at Kate as if… well, he looked at Kate in a way that had made Alexis feel a weird twinge of jealousy at first because in her entire life, Alexis had never ever seen Dad look at anyone except herself with anything approaching that sort of awe, that tenderness. It was a look Alexis had always thought of as _her_ look because it was one Dad had reserved for her, a look Alexis had mentally labeled as the "sappy Dad" look because seeing it was almost always preceded by Dad saying something sappy or just saying "I love you"—until he'd met Kate. And suddenly it wasn't only Alexis that got the "sappy Dad" look; Kate got it too when Dad looked at Kate or talked about Kate. So yes, at first, Alexis had not been thrilled about it before she realized after a while that it hadn't really changed anything about Dad as far as she was concerned. He was still basically the same _Dad_, still silly, still overprotective. He was still always there for her, still teased her, still played with her, still listened to her with that look on his face that said that nothing else in the world mattered to him except for her in that moment. And he still had that way of hugging her that made Alexis feel like nothing bad would ever happen to her—ever—as long as Dad was around. (Even now, when she was older and knew—all too well—that Dad wasn't some sort of superman, that Dad couldn't protect her all the time, that Dad himself wasn't invulnerable—Dad's hugs made Alexis feel safe like nothing else in the world could. Alexis loved her dad's hugs; she sometimes thought it was what she missed most when she was at college.)

She thought about all that and had to smile as Dad kissed her cheek and then moved to hug Gram.

Dad was happy and really, that was all Alexis had ever wanted for him.

Her dad freezing, his jaw going a little slack for a moment, was what told Alexis that Kate had appeared and Alexis, her eyes flicking back and forth between Kate and her dad, could see that, for those few seconds, at least, her dad had eyes only for Kate. Literally. She doubted her dad even so much as _saw_ Mr. Beckett walking right beside Kate.

_Oh Dad… _Alexis's heart suddenly felt like it was being squeezed. He loved Kate so, so much…

But then Alexis looked at Kate, saw the way she was looking at Dad—saw that, for that moment, Kate only had eyes for her dad too. Alexis knew that, could tell that Kate hadn't even registered the presence of herself or of Gram, let alone of the Justice of the Peace. All Kate saw was Dad. And Alexis smiled through the tears pricking at the back of her eyes and beside her, she heard Gram give a little sniff and knew Gram was teary-eyed.

Mr. Beckett looked like he was fighting tears too, Alexis saw, as he and Kate drew close, joined them on the pavilion. And for the first time, Kate broke gazes with Dad just enough to hug Mr. Beckett before she turned back.

And again, Kate and Dad were in their own world, the only two people in it.

It was a little scary and weird and, yes, a little gross to see—this was _Dad_ after all—but it was also… really beautiful.

Alexis blinked and heard Kate say her own name and she reached out to take Kate's bouquet. Her fingers brushed against the detective's as she took the flowers and she realized that Kate's hand was trembling ever so slightly. It surprised her—Detective Beckett always seemed so confident and Alexis still associated her with that confidence, that veneer of invulnerability, and Dad always said that Kate was the strongest person he'd ever met.

Alexis's heart twisted inside her again, remembering the tone of Dad's voice, the look in his eyes, whenever he said that about Kate. Dad thought Kate was amazing. It was in the way he looked at her, the way he talked to her and about her. It was obvious in the way he wrote the Nikki Heat books. Alexis knew her dad's writing, had read every one of his books from the time she'd been old enough (although she admitted to skipping over a couple scenes in the Nikki Heat books because she really, really didn't need to read what her dad wrote about that kind of thing). And even in the books, even though she knew her dad had thrown in differences between Nikki and Kate, Alexis could hear her dad's voice, saw the same sort of awe in the words he wrote that she heard in his voice whenever he talked about Kate. And she suddenly wondered, again, a little sickly and rather guiltily, if Kate really, truly felt _all of that_ for Dad. Kate loved Dad, Alexis didn't doubt that anymore, but did Kate think Dad was amazing in the same way he thought she was? Her dad was so… open about what he felt and Kate, although she'd changed and opened up in a way that surprised Alexis, still wasn't an open book. Alexis knew that her dad believed that Kate loved him just as much as he loved her and Alexis was happy for that but a tiny part of her was still worried because her dad _wanted_ to believe it. And Dad was such an optimist; he could always talk himself into believing in things like magic and the supernatural and aliens just because he wanted to believe they were real. Talking himself into believing in ghosts and Bigfoot was one thing but talking himself into believing that Kate really loved him—that was another thing entirely because if he turned out to be wrong, Dad would be crushed.

Alexis blinked, pushing away her worries, to focus on Kate, who'd started to speak.

"_The moment that I met you, my life became extraordinary. You taught me to be my best self, to look forward to tomorrow's adventures."_

Alexis suddenly remembered Kate telling her and Gram about the birthday surprise she'd planned for her dad when he'd been laid up with a broken knee. "I know what I want to give Castle for a birthday gift—a murder mystery." And then when Kate had laid out her plan, Alexis had realized two things: first, just how well Detective Beckett knew her dad because the plan—everything—was exactly what her dad would love and Alexis had immediately seen that Beckett had perfectly predicted how Dad would react to everything because Alexis knew her dad too. And second, that Detective Beckett really did love her dad. No one would plan something so elaborate, spend so much time and effort putting the plan together, unless it was for someone they really, really loved.

"_When I was vulnerable, you were strong." _

Dad always said that Kate was the strongest person he'd ever met, made it so obvious that he thought Kate was amazing… Alexis felt tears pricking at her eyes—again—because she realized that what Kate meant was that she thought Dad was amazing too. She really did. And Alexis felt her last niggling doubts about Kate's feelings for Dad vanish forever.

"_I love you, Richard Castle, and I want to live my life in the warmth of your smile and the strength of your embrace." _

Alexis smiled even as she felt a single tear spill over onto her cheek. She'd always said her dad gave the best hugs. And Kate apparently agreed.

"_I promise you I will love you. I will be your friend and your partner in crime and in life. Always." _

Alexis felt another tear slide down her cheek and blinked a few times to keep the other tears back. Her dad had a friend and a partner in life… She suddenly remembered a little moment of revelation she'd had about five or six years ago when she'd been upset over something, an argument with a friend maybe, and had talked to her dad about it and gotten one of his hugs and felt better—and then, as she'd been tucked against her dad's chest, she'd suddenly wondered, who did her dad talk to when he was upset about something? Maybe Gram about some things but she knew Dad too well to think he'd talk to Gram about most things. And she'd suddenly worried that maybe her dad didn't have anyone to really talk to. But now she knew—he did have someone to talk to when he was worried or upset. He could talk to Kate.

Alexis glanced over at Gram to see that Gram also looked like she was on the verge of tears.

It was her dad's turn now. He spoke quietly—he really was only talking to Kate, Alexis thought—and solemnly, his voice a little tremulous and tender and so certain. He meant every word.

"_The moment we met, my life became extraordinary. You taught me more about myself than I knew there was to learn." _

Yes, Kate was good for her dad. He was still a dork—_Star Wars_ cufflinks and all—was still silly, could still be like a little kid a lot of the times, but he was also… a little quieter, a little more serious. He'd grown up. Alexis suddenly remembered helping her dad get ready for his date with Bachelorette Number 3 years ago, telling him that she worried over who would take care of him when Alexis was off to college and not around every day. Kate would take care of him.

"_You are the joy in my heart." _

Stupidly, Alexis felt a sudden pang of jealousy. She thought _she_ was the joy in her dad's heart. She suddenly thought of the video her dad had recorded and left for her during his disappearance, the one they'd found in that bank in Montreal. Remembered how he'd told her—"Alexis, sweetie, I need you to know that you are the best thing in my life. From the day you were born, you've been the very best part of me and I know, no matter what happens to me, you'll _always_ be the best part of me." Her entire life, Alexis had always known that she came first with her dad, was the person that he was happiest with. And even though she knew it was silly, that her dad hadn't meant it in any such way, it… stung a little bit in some stupid, irrational corner of her heart, to think that now, she would have to share the position of being the most important person in Dad's life.

"_You're the last person I want to see every night when I close my eyes. I love you, Katherine Beckett, and the mystery of you is the one I want to spend the rest of my life exploring." _

Alexis had to smile, feeling a small bubble of amusement breaking through the momentary pang of jealousy. The mystery of Kate—such a perfectly _Dad_ way of putting it. Only her dad said things like that.

"_I promise to love you, to be your friend and your partner in crime and life, 'til death do us part, and for the time of our lives." _

Alexis thought again about what she'd said to her dad earlier, that this would be his last wedding. It would be. She was sure of that. Amazingly, maybe even naively sure of that, since she, of all people, knew that marriages failed, had seen both her dad's divorces. But in spite of all that, she knew that this was really it for him. For the rest of his life, he would love Kate, be married to Kate.

The sound of Kate's small, happy giggle—had she ever heard Detective Beckett giggle before?—made Alexis look at Kate, see the radiance of her smile.

And then the Justice of the Peace spoke, made it official. "By the power vested in me by the state of New York, I now pronounce you husband and wife."

Her dad and Kate were married.

Kate giggled again, as if her happiness was simply too much to be expressed through smiling alone, and then she was kissing Dad and he was kissing her and Alexis knew that they were—again—the only two people in the world.

She felt Gram slip her arm around her shoulders and turned to hug her grandmother.

"He's so happy," she whispered into Gram's ear.

Gram laughed a little. "They both are."

Gram let her go and then, because it was quite obvious that neither Dad nor Kate had the slightest bit of attention to spare for any other person in the world besides themselves, stepped over to thank the Justice of the Peace again, accepting his congratulations on behalf of Dad and Kate.

Alexis went over to join Mr. Beckett, who was watching her dad and Kate kissing, watching as Dad whispered something into Kate's ear that had Kate giggling a little and blushing and then kissing him. Mr. Beckett had tears in his eyes but he was smiling in spite of them and then he blinked and turned to smile at Alexis too.

"I've never seen my dad look so happy."

"I've never seen my daughter look so happy," Mr. Beckett returned quietly, his smile slipping a little, and Alexis realized he must be thinking of Kate's mom.

He was family too now, Alexis thought. "I've never really had a grandfather before," she ventured after a moment.

She thought about her dad's dad, that mysterious man who'd stepped in and saved her and her dad in Paris, the man she'd never met, only knew through what her dad had told her. She knew, because her dad had briefly mentioned it, that the man had appeared in New York a few months back, had even come to the loft, seen Gram again and met Kate, something about a mission. But she also knew—mostly from the set of her dad's mouth, the tone of his voice—that whatever had happened, her dad had been disappointed, even hurt. And Dad had only told her, "don't think about him, pumpkin. He'll never be a part of our lives."

Now, she gave Mr. Beckett a rather tentative smile as he turned to look at her, surprise on his face but also a dawning smile. "Would you like one?" he asked.

Alexis smiled. "I think I would."

"I already told Rick that he should think about calling me Dad," Mr. Beckett told her after a moment. "Would you—you can call me Grandpa Jim, if you like," he finished a little gruffly.

"I'd like that." She paused and then added, "Grandpa Jim."

Mr. Beck—no, Grandpa Jim gave her a beaming smile, although there were still some traces of tears in his eyes, and then put his arm around her shoulders in a quick hug.

Alexis let her head rest briefly against his shoulder. And then, almost in unison, they both turned to look at her dad and Kate, wondering if they'd noticed this other little family moment.

No, they hadn't.

Alexis met Mr. Beckett's eyes and they both exchanged quick smiles. Yeah, neither her dad nor Kate had seen a thing.

Her dad and Kate were still in their own little world, her dad's arms around Kate's waist while Kate's were loosely linked around his shoulders, their foreheads touching as they whispered to each other and exchanged soft kisses.

And Alexis smiled. Dad and Kate were so happy, so in love—and looking at them, she knew they always would be.

_~The End~_

_A/N 2: I've been wondering about what Castle would have said to Alexis on the video he left for her since 7x2, "Montreal," and I finally took a stab at writing part of it. And I can't seem to get enough of writing Jim Beckett's character so that's to blame for the last little moment between Alexis and Jim—with a shout-out to the awesome fic, "Hi Dad" by jareya where the Alexis-Jim relationship has been fleshed out fantastically and which served as the partial inspiration for the Alexis-Jim exchange in this fic. _

_And lastly, I had to include the vows… Oh those vows… I may never stop crying every time I read them or watch that scene… I only hope I managed to do the scene some justice. _


End file.
